The last months should not be easy for Harley-Davidson’s mandamases. The reason is none other than the accumulation of bad news, one after another, all of them related to the activity of the brand and the little flattering dividends that it has recently presented.
A concatenation of facts that culminates these days with the fine for the value of 1.4 million euros imposed by the Federal Trade Commission of Japan … the reason? We tell you everything in detail.
Harley-Davidson receives a new economic varapalo
It is necessary to go back to July of last year to be able to put in context the fine with which the Yankee firm has recently been sanctioned by the Japanese authorities. As Ride Apart’s colleagues reported, the Japanese government initiated research on brand activities in the country and determine if it violated the Antitrust law established within its borders.
Apparently, as published by a local media, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the competent authorities in this matter entered the official Harley headquarters in Japan. The reasons were related to the fact that the brand was supposedly imposing excessive sales fees on its dealers, in violation of the antimonopoly law. This fraudulent activity, according to sources consulted, had been taking place since the 2020 season.
But this is not all, since also, official dealers were forced to acquire models with little or no sale in that market, with the consequent economic damage for them. Likewise, the brand coerced the distributors under the threat of not renewing the collaboration contracts established so far. Precisely a year after the start of the investigations, Harley-Davidson has finally been sanctioned with a fine worth 1.4 million dollars.
Apparently, it is not the first time that this type’s economic sanction is applied to a reference brand within the automotive sector. BMW Group went through a similar situation in 2021, after being accused of applying similar practices with their local distributors, between 2015 and 2019. Curiously, those managers involved in these little ethical commercial policies ended as president and executive of Harley-Davidson Japan, in 2020.
According to some sources close to the American brand, both would have resigned last year shortly after the investigations related to this matter begin. One wonders to this point, what brand will they now be applying business policies of this style, which can lead to the short and medium term? Ruthless capitalism in its purest form.
